Massachusetts

Spotlight on Spending #8: Illinois Legislators Among Highest Paid in Nation

By Kate Campaigne Piercy
07/22/2010
The Problem Although facing a serious budget deficit, Illinois legislators remain among the best compensated in the nation. Today, Illinois state representatives and senators earn a base salary of $67,836—the fifth-highest legislator salary in the country. Only California, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania pay their legislators more. Illinois state representatives and senators earn around 47...

Minimum Wage: Hurting More than Helping

By Kate Campaigne Piercy
06/30/2010
The Problem Illinois’s minimum wage, already high at $8.00 an hour, is set to increase by another 25 cents on July 1, 2010. This ill-timed hike in the minimum wage will hurt low-skilled workers and the small business owners who want to employ them. With each of Illinois’s neighboring states having a lower minimum wage,...

Health Care Mandate Mania

By Chris Andriesen
06/25/2008
What to do about 47 million uninsured nationwide and 1.4 million Illinoisans without insurance?  This has become a central issue in the debate over health care.  In recent years, mandates, both on individuals and businesses, have emerged as a popular solution among policymakers to address the chronic problem of the uninsured and uncompensated care. Last...